Automatic reverser.



J. HDRN` AUTOMATIC REVERSERf Arrucnlon min un 25. m1.

Patented Feb. 26,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I 1., HORN.

AUTMATIC REVEHSER.

APPLlcAloN man MAY25.19|1.

1,257,352. Pawnwd Feb.26,191s.

2 SHEETS-SHEET L artour, v

yiso

1,257,352, speinatipn of Lettersratent. Patented Feb, 26, 191'3 Application led May 25, 1917. Serial No. 170,910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HORN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented a new and usefulv Automatic Reverser, of which the followingis a specification.

he present invention relates to a mechanism for automatically reversing the valves or devices which control a furnace or the like, vit beingthe object of the invention to provide a'novel and improved automatic reversing mechanism for intermittently reversing the air and fuel valves of an'open hearth steel melting furnace, soaking pit, heating furnace, brick kiln, or the like, whereby the valves will be opened land closed at the proper intervals and without relying upon an operatorl to do this work, as usual, and thus avoiding human mistakes.

Melting furnaces, brick kilns, and the like, generally require the reversal of the flames or fuel from one end ,or point to another, as well as the reversal of the air and stack or Hue Valves.- This is usuall done manually, but it is not infrequently t e case that the reversal is not made at the proper intervals, and furthermore, the attention lof y the operator is required almost continuously during the operation of the furnace, whereas with the present mechanism, theV attention of the operator is eliminated, "and the reversal is accomplished automatically at the proper intervals.

A further object of the invention is thek provision of a mechanism of the nature in dicated embodying a novel assemblage of the component elements, whereby to enhance the utility and efficiency of the apparatus.

With the foregoing andother objects in view which will appear. as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it `being understood that changes in theJ precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a front view ofthe mechanism, portions being broken away, and the electrical side of fthe mechanism being illus- `trated d iagrammatically. y

Fig. 2 is a diagramniatical View illustrating the valves.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental plan viewl showing some ofthe pressure fluid valves.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental detail Aillustrating a modification. i n

In the drawin the numeral 1 designates a fuel supply p1pethrough`wh'ich gas, oil or other fuel is sup lied to branch ipes 2 leading to theopposite ends of the urnace, kiln, or the like. The branch pipes 2 are alternately opened and closed by lmeans of suitable valves 3 and 4, one valve being closed while the other is open, andthe valves being reversed at intervals, to change the supply of fuel from one nace to theother.

Between the valves 3 and 4 is a horizontal row of vertical cylinders 5, 6, 7 8 and 9, it being understood that any suitable number of these cylinders can be used, according to the circumstances. The upper ends Aof said cylinders have portions 10 bolted -or otherwise fastened to a horizontal supporting bar or frame 11 and the lower ends of said cylinders have heads 12. are slidable vertically within the cylinders and" have depending piston rods 14 extending through the heads l2. The piston rods 14 of the cylinders 5 and 6 can be connected to the air valves at lone Vend of the furnace, and the piston rods of 4the cylinders S and 9 can be connected to the air valves at the other end of the furnace, while the piston rod of the cylinder 7 can be oonnected to the flue or stack valves. The piston rods are connected by any suitable operative connections with the valves or devices, and since the present linvention does end of the furf Pistons 13 I air valves 15. 16,17-17", 18 and 19 are lof vided for the respective cylinders 5, 6, 8

and 9, said valves bein of similar construetion, and are dispose vin front of a horizontal fluid pressure supply pipe 2()l which is in turn in front of thecylinders. The pipe 20 has branches 23 connected to said l valves= and eachfvalve is'connectedf'by ai i ypipe 21 with the respective "cylinder, each valvefalso having` an exhaust* port -22vopenf i ing into the atmosphere. The pipes- 21 of? the valvesjl, 16, 17,18 and 19 are connectedl tothe lower portionsoffthe respective cylinders 5, 6,17, 8 and 9, while thevpipe.21 of f the :valve 17 is connected to the upper por- "lio tion ofthe intermediate cylinder 7. This 4cylinder '7 has 'the two valves 17 and 17', whercbythe piston of thiscylinder is moved by fluid pressure in `both directions, while `thepistons ofthe cylinders', 46,8 and 9 are simply raisedaby fluid pressure, and moved downwardly by gravity,y assisted by the` movement of the devices to which'the' piston rods are connected." i

kexteriorlyv ofv the valve casing .with anl L- shaped Ior; angular operatin member`24 whose arms are arranged sustantially at ,right angles with one another.` 'These memybers 24 arefoscillated backend forth atinlpresently appeanv f in suitablebearings 27. The nut 25isfmov-` .fable along.- guide yrods- 28 terminally at` tached to the bearings27, and ther nut 25 tervals for' `reversing the valves, as will Annut 25 travels'upon valves, and having its terminals journaled has a tappetmember 29, which is preferably provided with a `roller 30 for engaging the -members 24, the roller 30 being movable under said members 24fin-engagementrwith" kthe arms thereof. 1

A reversible electric motor31 ear-ed, iby a worm and worm wheel or the ike, to one end of the screw, 26, and the operation the shaft or arbor 33.A Theshaft A33 canbe rotated once ever hour, or canbe so geared` n to thek clock to g speed.v Disks 34am-.mounted upon the shaft j *'33 and are insulated from one another,and

e rotated at ythe desired have `switch members 35 arrangedA alternately,`toengage the respective contacts-36 and`37. Electrical current is vsupplied by l, 'the `generator 385er other suitable source of k"Eelec'trical energy, and'switches 39 andf40 of any suitab1e sort, are arrangedto be oper-j` i ated whent'he nut k25 reaches lthe ends of its f movements in oppositey directions.I ."'lfhese-` qswitches 39 and'40ffareconnected by a linkr 41 or otherwise'so thatas one switch is closed, thel other isopened', ,they being operated alternately.'` The switch 39. when closed,

i1 clesesy the-"l-'circuit betweenfccnductors 42 and `43, the `formen"being eonnectedlto oneter- L mlnal of: the generator 38 and one `contact i i 36', and thejlatter being connected with one i y vin one direction, for so rotatin of said motor at A:suitable intervals 1s controlled by any suitable clock 32, which has right, the left hand arms being swung ewardly to ldepending position. rl 'verses-the valves 3,15, 16,117, 17', 18, 19

watmosphere, 'permittino -fjterminal 4of the motor 31.` A switch 40 servestokclosethe circuit between said terminal ofthe motor 31 and a conductor 44 whichxis connected to one contact 3,7 and rltie 1el other terminal of the 'generator 38. other `contacts 36'and 37 are connected by a conductor-45 with the other terminal of themotor y31. "The nut 25 carries U-shaped members 46 for operating the switches 39 and'40. i"

. Withthe parts arranged as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the nut 25 is at the left hand end of the screw `26 and` the member 26 has opened the switch 39. The right hand arms of the members 24v are in depending posiy tionaudN the lefthand `arms project toward .thejfleft Valve?) is in open position so that fthe fuel can. flow through the left hand branch 2, while thev valve 4 isclosed.y Valves 15,' y,and 17,' .establish communication between .the luid pressure pipe 8 and 'lower PIQIIS'O the cylinders 5, 6 and 7 kSo that the respective piston rods are raised `for correspondingly moving the` :valves or Aparts to which they are connected.V The i valves 17', 18 and 19 connectthe 'upper por- `'tionv ofwthe cylinder 7 vand lower portions f ofthe cylinders 8k and 9 with the ports y y a horizontalscrew 26 `arranged parallel with the series of opening into .the atmosphere, whereby the pistonl of cyhnder 7 can move upwardly,

while thefpistonsof c linders 8 vand 9 can fter an interval of time,'say fifteen or twenty minutes, one of `the switch or bridging members 35 is moved into engagementwith the contacts 36 move downwardly.

ythe nuty 25 is moved toward the right. The

member29 is therefore carried under the members 24 in succession, and in contacting with the right hand depending arms of said members 24 will swingthem-toward the downhis reand 4 insuccession.'` The valve 3..isthere fore closed, and the valves 15, 16, and 17 now l, 1 establish communication between kthe lower portions ofthe cylinders 5, 6 and 7 and the tons to move downwardly.

the respective pis-l A y Valvel7' estabV li-shes' communication betweenfthe pipe 20 .f5 and upper portion of the cylinder 7, `whereby lthe respectwe piston is forced downwardly byf-pressure fluid,fwhile valves718 andv 1,19

Sand 9, whereby t eir pistons are; forcibly new; establish.. communicationwbetween the P'IPB @0' and lWer ortlons of "the cylindersf` v IVhen the nut 25 reaches the end of its move-j ment to the right, the member 46 opens the.

flow of fuel to the other' end of the furnace.

switch 40, and closes the switch 39. Switch 40 being opened will open the circuit above described, thereby stopping the motor 3l, after which the respective switch member 35 is moved away from the contacts 36. After another interval of time, the next switch member 35 engages the contacts 37, as seen in Fig. l, to close the circuit including the generator 38, conductor 42, switch 29 which is now closed, conductor 43, motor 31, conductor 4:5, contacts 37 and conductor 44. The motor 3l is therefore rotated in the opposite direction as well as the screw 26, thereby moving the nut 25 to the left, and the members 24 will therefore be moved back to the position illustrated in Fig. l, thereby again reversing the valves and bringing them to the position first described. lhen the nut 25 reaches the end of its movement to the left, it opens the switch 39 and closes the switch 40, and the switch 39 being opened stops the motor. The nut 25 is therefore moved in one direction and then in the other direction at the desired intervals, for reversing the valves automatically. Any suitable `clock controlled circuit controlling device can be employed for opening and closing the motor circuits at the proper intervals.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. l, the screw 26a has right and left hand threads, whereby it need only be rotated in one direction, the movement of the nut 25a being reversed at the ends of the screw.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is y 1. An automatic reverser, comprising a series Vof cylinders, pistons in the cylin- Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

ders, a fluid pressure suppl conduit communicating with the c lin ers, valves in the conduit for control ing the. fluid pressure supply, a traveler mounted for reciprocation before the cylinders, a tappet on the traveler for successivelyv operating the valves, mechanism for reciprocating the v,

traveler, y a member depending from the traveler, and means controlled by the depending member for operating the reciprocating means.

3. An automatic reverser, comprising a .series of cylinders, pistons in the cylinders,

a fluid pressure supply conduit communicating with the cylinders, valves in the conduit for controlling the liuid pressure supply, a screw actuated traveler reciprocable past the valves, a tappet on the traveler for suc-- cessively operating the valves,.and means controlled by the traveler for operating the screw.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing y as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN HORN.

Witnesses:

EDMUND H. MANN, ARTHUR A. OBRLEN. 

